Saronic Lands $392 Million Navy Contract for Autonomous Surface Vessels

Saronic, redefining maritime superiority, led by Dino Mavrookas, Rob Lehman, Vibhav Altekar, Doug Lambert, and the team, has announced a $392 million production contract for its Corsair autonomous maritime vessels, with nearly $200 million obligated at the time of award from the U.S. Navy. The announcement was made at the Reagan National Defense Forum, where Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the deal reflects a new benchmark for rapid defense procurement.

Phelan said the Navy moved from prototype to production in under 12 months, far faster than typical shipbuilding timelines. “With Saronic, we delivered combat power in under a year,” he said. “That’s innovation in sailors’ and marines’ hands, not on PowerPoints.”

The contract centers on Saronic’s Corsair platform, a 24-foot modular autonomous surface vessel capable of carrying approximately 1,000 pounds over 1,000 nautical miles at speeds exceeding 35 knots. Designed for blue-water operations, Corsair supports missions ranging from maritime domain awareness to both kinetic and non-kinetic strike roles.

The vessels are intended to support what Phelan described as a “hybrid manned–unmanned Fleet,” with an emphasis on deploying operational hardware quickly and driving competition in procurement.

Saronic said Corsair’s transition to high-rate production was enabled by internal investment in manufacturing capacity.

Last week, the company announced a $300 million expansion of its shipyard in Franklin. The project will add more than 300,000 square feet of production space and is expected to create 1,500 jobs in coordination with state and local partners.

The Louisiana facility, acquired earlier this year from Gulf Craft, now serves as the development and production hub for Marauder, another Saronic autonomous vessel. Marauder progressed from initial design to full development in just six months and has since evolved into a 180-foot configuration built for greater payload capacity and extended operational range.

“We are proud to partner with the U.S. Navy to rapidly field advanced autonomous maritime capabilities,” the company said in a statement. “From day one, the company was built around rapid innovation and scaled manufacturing, enabling Corsair to move from prototype to high-rate, fielded production in under a year.”

“We approached the Navy with a proven capability and found a partner committed to testing, adopting, and procuring new technologies at scale,” the company said. “Significant investment in production infrastructure and capacity enables delivery of these capabilities at the speed and volume the mission requires.”

Saronic said the Navy contract reflects broader shifts in federal acquisition policy designed to expand procurement access for nontraditional defense suppliers and accelerate the deployment of commercial-derivative technologies.

Defense officials have emphasized the need to pair acquisition reform with domestic production capacity.